Construction, maintenance administrators meet to discuss common concerns.

On Oct. 30 through Nov. 2, 1994, the South Carolina Department of Corrections sponsored the second annual National Corrections Construction and Maintenance Administrators conference in Charleston, S.C.

More than 65 correctional construction and facility maintenance administrators from 23 states--double the attendance of last year's conference in Oklahoma City--met to discuss a wide variety of issues of common concern to state prison administrators.

Conference Highlights

David Elliot, director of Engineering Services for the Connecticut Department of Correction, chaired the first day of the conference. Topics discussed ranged from ongoing international corrections projects to complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Special presentations were made by Steven Carter of Carter-Goble Associates on prison planning and Buford Goff of Buford Goff & Associates on electronic security systems.

Stanley Bates, assistant director of Administrative Services for the Arizona Department of Corrections, chaired the second day of the conference. Presentations were made on total planned quality maintenance, facility surveys and indoor air quality. The discussion about indoor air quality was especially lively because of the large-scale ramifications of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's indoor air quality standards that went into effect in April 1994.

One of the highlights of the meeting occurred that evening during the conference's dinner session. Frank J. Sheridan, director of Facilities Planning for the New York State Department of Correctional Services, spoke about the almost overwhelming number of state and federal regulations and discussed their impact on correctional agencies.

The final day of the conference was chaired by Al Milligan, administrator of the Construction and Maintenance Unit for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, The main topic of that day was Arizona's inmate labor program and similar programs in place in Oklahoma, Maryland and Alabama. The potential to reduce construction costs while providing training and jobs for inmates has been well received in those states.

On the final day of the conference, many of the administrators took advantage of the South Carolina Department of Correction's invitation and visited the Lee and Turbeville Correctional Institutions, both of which incorporated some of the newest design and construction concepts in their development.

In addition to the presentations given by nationally recognized speakers, the conference used a round-table format to allow informal discussions and networking among the administrators. Most of the participants shared common concerns about crowding, the changing work force, limited maintenance funding and the need to do more with less. Other issues raised during round-table discussions were electronic perimeter detection systems, fence design, design-build construction delivery and the 1994 Crime Bill.

The 1995 Conference

The Arizona Department of Corrections will host the next National Corrections Construction and Maintenance Administrators conference in Phoenix in October 1995. The major topics for the 1995. The major topics for the 1995 conference will be women's prisons, international projects and crime control legislation.

The annual National Corrections Construction and Maintenance Administrators conference is open to all correctional professionals. For more information about the upcoming conference, please contact Tony Zelenak, Bureau of Facility Management, Arizona Department of Corrections, at [phone]. For more information on the organization, please contact Al Milligan of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections at [phone].